Friday, November 5, 2004

[1930 - Sinclair Lewis won Nobel Prize for Literature]
(First American to win the prize)

Popular Mandate

I bet you thought this was about Bush. You are partly right. Hamid Karzai held his victory press conference, and it was reported on today. President Karzai reached out to the former Taliban, whereas President Bush reached out to the Democrats. One wonders which group is seen as the more dangerous by the two national leaders. President Bush promised to do something about Social Security and to simplify the tax code, while President Karzai said he would crack down on the Regional War Lords that currently control most of his country, and put a stop to the opium and heroin farming (Afghanistan is the worlds largest source of these illegal drugs) even though they are the number one cash crop in his country, and the mainstay of the economy. Both men pledged a continuing war on terror, although the US has a few more resources with which to wage that war than Afghanistan, where the capitol city, Kabul, is subject to terrorist attacks, and there have been several attempts on Karzai's life. It kind of makes the undoubtedly big job that our President faces seem a bit less monumental. Karzai has one thing going for him though, he got fifty-five percent of the popular vote in a country where just going to a polling place can take some courage. One sure hopes they can pull it off.

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